Marvel Comics
of Marvel Sentai: Battle Japan of Battle Fever J, DenziRed of Denshi Sentai Denziman and VulEagle of Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan.]] Marvel Comics is an American company that publishes comic books and related media. Influences in Sentai It had a role in the origins of Super Sentai, after Shotaro Ishinomori's original two series, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai, Marvel and Toei released a tokusatsu series in 1978, which featured Spider-Man piloting a giant robot, a feature not present in the original two Sentai. The next year, what was originally planned to an adaptation of Captain America resulted in Battle Fever J, resulting in the official start of the Super Sentai series, with Shotaro Ishinomori's shows being included in 1995. In 1980, Marvel assisted Toei in their second Sentai co-production, Denshi Sentai Denziman. At the time, Marvel desired Japanese shows based on the Incredible Hulk and the Silver Surfer, but with the success of BFJ and the ease of creating another ensemble show, Toei chose to make another Sentai. In their final year of the three-year deal to use Marvel characters, Toei chose Hela, a villainess of the Norse God hero Thor, and used her look and color scheme for Denziman villainess Queen Hedrian, who would be portrayed by Machiko Soga. 1981's Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan is the final series to possess the Marvel copyright, but did not have any Marvel influence but may have due to the connection to previous season Denziman, including the return of Hedrian for a second season. Planned Project In 1983, an article from Marvel's Japanese division stated that they were interested in bringing Spider-Man and the three Sentai they produced; Sun Vulcan in particular was cited as part of this deal and they were looking at HBO as a potential candidate for airing the shows.http://starlogged.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/1983-marvel-in-japan-comics-interview-3.html In 1985, Marvel Comics produced a pilot for an American adaptation of a Super Sentai series, but the show was rejected by the major US TV networks. Super Sentai would later be adapted into Power Rangers, created by Saban Entertainment in 1993. Super Sentai Actors/Actresses in Marvel Comics Productions *Mitsuo Ando **Professor Monster (Toei Spider-Man 1978) *Keiji Fujiwara **Tony Stark/Iron Man (Marvel Anime Iron Man 2010) *Shozo Iizuka **Machine Bem (Toei Spider-Man 1978) *Yukie Kagawa **Amazoness (Toei Spider-Man 1978) *Rikiya Koyama ** Wolverine (Marvel Anime Iron Man, Wolverine and X-Men 2010-2011) *Hiroshi Miyauchi ** Detective Go Tachibana (Toei Spider-Man 1978) *Noboru Nakaya ** Juzo Mamiya (Toei Spider-Man 1978) *Shinji Todo **Takuya Yamashiro/Spider-Man (Toei Spider-Man 1978) Notes *In the episode "Convention Dimension", the Beetleborgs attend a comic convention with several attendees wearing costumes. One of the costumes worn was Spider-Man as Spider-Man The Animated Series was airing on Fox Kids at the time. *In 2009, Disney, which at the time controlled the Power Rangers franchise, purchased Marvel Comics, placing both franchises within the same company. However the combination was short-lived, with Saban repurchasing the rights of Power Rangers in 2010, including all of the Disney-produced seasons. *Despite Disney's ownership, however, Nicktoons aired both Wolverine & The X-Men and Iron Man Armored Adventures while airing Power Rangers. *''Battle Fever J'' and it's continuum is placed within the Marvel Multiverse on Earth-79203. *When discussing the original pitch for Power Rangers Ninja Storm, writer Amit Bhaumik likened it to the 2006-2007 storyline from Marvel Comics Civil War. *In an indirect connection between Marvel and Sentai; toy-group Mattel included the Varidreen and Varitank from Gorenger as part of the "Shogun Vehicles" within the Shogun Warriors toyline. The line, based on many of the giant robot anime of Toei, would likewise lead to a comic book by Marvel; however no Gorenger vehicles appeared in this book.VaridreenVaritank **This would make Varidreen and Varitank the first Sentai-related merchandise released in the US. *In the beginning of the first episode of Denji Sentai Megaranger, an arcade cabinet of Marvel and Capcom's game X-Men VS Street Fighter can be seen in the background when several kids are playing the Megaranger game. After Kenta Date and another teenager begin playing Megaranger a bit of gameplay is shown with Juggernaut (from X-Men) fighting against Vega (named M. Bison in the US). *While not direct references, two Universal Insect Monsters during the Warstar arc of Goseiger are named after film adaptations of Marvel comic books: **Fandaho of Nonsense refers to the 2005 adaptation of the Fantastic Four **Powereddark of the Mutation refers to the 1986 adaptation of Howard the Duck References External Links *Television Series at the Marvel Wiki *Marvel Comics at the Marvel Wiki *Earth-79203 at the Marvel Wiki Category:Entertainment Company Category:Companies